Prohibition was a major reform movement sponsored by the many different evangelical Protestant churches of America to ban the selling of alcohol. The movement started in Kansas and Maine but soon the Anti-Saloon League became involved and the movement gained national appeal. The Anti-Saloon League gained most of its support from the rural North and the South. They were committed to legislation more than how legislators voted. The League succeeded in its goal to ban liquor when the 18th amendment was ratified in 1920. The law stated, “…after one year from the ratification of this article the manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors within, the importation thereof into, or the exportation thereof from the United States and all territory subject to the jurisdiction thereof for beverage purposes is hereby prohibited. The Congress and the several States shall have concurrent power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.” Many of societies ills have been attributed to the prohibition movement. Mafia groups in New York and Chicago limited their activities to gambling and theft until the 18th amendment was ratified. The black market for bootlegged liquor created the perfect opening for powerful gangs, corrupt law enforcement agencies and violence. The number of crimes increased by 24%. Theft and burglaries also increased by 9%, homicide by 12.7%, assault and battery rose by 13% and drug addiction by 44.6%. The reason drug addiction rose when alcohol was banned is because stronger liquor was more profitable to smuggle. When the government found out bootleggers were breaking down industrial ethyl alcohol they urged the treasury department to increase the amount of poison in it. The death toll may be as many as 10,000 from this act alone.
Overview
Prohibition was a major reform movement sponsored by the many different evangelical Protestant churches of America to ban the selling of alcohol. The movement started in Kansas and Maine but soon the Anti-Saloon League became involved and the movement gained national appeal. The Anti-Saloon League gained most of its support from the rural North and the South. They were committed to legislation more than how legislators voted. The League succeeded in its goal to ban liquor when the 18th amendment was ratified in 1920.The law stated, “…after one year from the ratification of this article the manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors within, the importation thereof into, or the exportation thereof from the United States and all territory subject to the jurisdiction thereof for beverage purposes is hereby prohibited. The Congress and the several States shall have concurrent power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.”
Many of societies ills have been attributed to the prohibition movement. Mafia groups in New York and Chicago limited their activities to gambling and theft until the 18th amendment was ratified. The black market for bootlegged liquor created the perfect opening for powerful gangs, corrupt law enforcement agencies and violence. The number of crimes increased by 24%. Theft and burglaries also increased by 9%, homicide by 12.7%, assault and battery rose by 13% and drug addiction by 44.6%.
The reason drug addiction rose when alcohol was banned is because stronger liquor was more profitable to smuggle. When the government found out bootleggers were breaking down industrial ethyl alcohol they urged the treasury department to increase the amount of poison in it. The death toll may be as many as 10,000 from this act alone.
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